Cardiac Arrest Killing Too Many, Report Finds

More than 329,000 of Americans are dying from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year because friends and family do too little to save them, according to a new report1. This alarming statistic could hit close to home, because home is exactly where 88 percent of cardiac arrests occur2.

The terrifying fact is that 70 percent of Americans may feel helpless to act during a cardiac emergency because they do not know how to administer CPR2. Put very simply: The life you save with CPR is most likely to be someone you love.

“Cardiac arrest survival rates are unacceptably low,” said Robert Graham, who directs the national program office for Aligning Forces for Quality at George Washington University3.

But just because someone’s heart has stopped doesn’t necessarily mean he or she is dead and people need to understand that they can help, the Institute of Medicine report said1. All it takes is a little training and a willingness to try, says Jonathan Epstein, a paramedic and CPR instructor for the American Red Cross in Washington.

“Don’t be afraid,” Epstein told NBC News. “We need to have family members, bystanders, co-workers ready to act. They need to be willing to get down on the ground and help,” he added.”

“For every minute we waste of not starting CPR…we lose about 10 percent of survivability.”1 Yet only 3 percent of the population gets CPR training each year, the report said1.

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